Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz standard called "Star Eyes." This song was made for a film that was released in 1943, but it was made popular among musicians when Charlie Parker recorded it several years later. I hope you like listening to it!
Listen to the song here
(Can't see an audio player? It might not work if you're viewing this in an email client. If you are on teawithliya.blogspot.ca, you may need to try a different browser.)
Showing posts with label 1940s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1940s. Show all posts
Monday, 3 May 2021
Monday, 22 March 2021
Crazeology
Welcome back to Tea with Liya! Today, I'm playing a jazz song called "Crazeology," which was composed by Benny Harris, but first recorded by Charlie Parker. Maybe there was a crazy idea that inspired this song, but we can't really know that now. I hope you like listening to it!
Listen to the song here
(Can't see an audio player? It might not work if you're viewing this in an email client. If you are on teawithliya.blogspot.ca, you may need to try a different browser.)
Listen to the song here
(Can't see an audio player? It might not work if you're viewing this in an email client. If you are on teawithliya.blogspot.ca, you may need to try a different browser.)
Wednesday, 17 June 2020
Bouncing with Bud
Welcome back to Tea with Liya! On this sunny Wednesday, I'm playing "Bouncing with Bud," a jazz song composed by Bud Powell. It may already have 74 years in the books, but I think it's still a song worth listening to. I hope you like it!
Listen to the song here
(Can't see an audio player? It might not work if you're viewing this in an email client. If you are on teawithliya.blogspot.ca, you may need to try a different browser.)
Listen to the song here
(Can't see an audio player? It might not work if you're viewing this in an email client. If you are on teawithliya.blogspot.ca, you may need to try a different browser.)
Sunday, 11 August 2019
Scrapple from the Apple
Scrapple from the Apple is a famous jazz standard composed by Charlie Parker. Tea with Liya's topical tale this Thursday at twelve o'clock is a piano cover of Scrapple from the Apple. (Like the alliteration? Let me know in the comments if you can make it better!)
Yes, that's right. It's yet another jazz song composed by Charlie Parker! If you haven't seen my other posts pertaining to his songs, you might want to know that he was an influential jazz saxophonist in the 1950's and 60's. He was known for playing rhythmic solos at fast speeds, a skill he probably acquired through his solid practicing habits. (Perhaps he would be considered one of the "jazz greats," or arguably the greatest jazz saxophonist of all time.)
By solid practicing habits, I mean over 10 hours a day. Seems like a lot, but perhaps not a lot if you're a professional musician. If, on a particular day, you have no performances, no work-in-progress songs, and no one visiting or coming for lessons, you will probably spend most of the day practicing.
Other songs I've played, such as Billie's Bounce, Now's the Time and Ornithology, were also composed by Charlie Parker. These songs will often be played at jazz performances and thus are expected to be a part of the average musician's repertoire.
The chord progressions for this song were based on two other jazz standards that Parker had known for years, one of which is the famous I've Got Rhythm. The number of songs based on that one is unbelievable, but each new composition gains a reputation of its own.
Yes, that's right. It's yet another jazz song composed by Charlie Parker! If you haven't seen my other posts pertaining to his songs, you might want to know that he was an influential jazz saxophonist in the 1950's and 60's. He was known for playing rhythmic solos at fast speeds, a skill he probably acquired through his solid practicing habits. (Perhaps he would be considered one of the "jazz greats," or arguably the greatest jazz saxophonist of all time.)
By solid practicing habits, I mean over 10 hours a day. Seems like a lot, but perhaps not a lot if you're a professional musician. If, on a particular day, you have no performances, no work-in-progress songs, and no one visiting or coming for lessons, you will probably spend most of the day practicing.
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| I once heard that Charlie Parker used a plastic saxophone to practice. Considering the amount of time it was used, I'm sure it eventually fell apart. Image by Christoph Schütz from Pixabay |
Other songs I've played, such as Billie's Bounce, Now's the Time and Ornithology, were also composed by Charlie Parker. These songs will often be played at jazz performances and thus are expected to be a part of the average musician's repertoire.
The chord progressions for this song were based on two other jazz standards that Parker had known for years, one of which is the famous I've Got Rhythm. The number of songs based on that one is unbelievable, but each new composition gains a reputation of its own.
Wednesday, 31 July 2019
How High the Moon
Welcome to August! "How High the Moon," composed by Morgan Lewis, is a jazz song so popular that at one point, it was competing for titles like "National Anthem of Jazz" and "Most Recorded Jazz Song." While originally composed as a slow ballad, musicians like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane were quick to play the song, well, quickly, and write their own melodies using its chords.
While I probably should have posted this song on the week of the Moon Landing's anniversary, I can still inform you how far away the moon is from the Earth.
In your head, they probably look like this:
However, most images of "celestial bodies" are not to scale. Here's the actual distance between the Earth and the Moon. It's probably hard to see either of them.
You can probably see this more easily
You may have noticed something interesting. What appears to be right in this picture is actually up from the perspective of the Earth. If the moon rotated 180 degrees, it would also be above the Earth.
So then, is the moon really high after all, if up is any direction away from the Earth? What is 'up', and what is 'down'?
Answer: There's lots of things we don't know about the universe.
Here's another interesting brain twister about directions. Suppose you were driving a car at 60 kilometers an hour. According to the car, you yourself are not moving, but according to the road, you are moving.
Then, you stop the car. But have you really stopped? After all, the Earth is rotating, and it's moving around the Sun, which is moving around the Milky Way, which is moving around relative to other galaxies....
So, you don't really know how fast you are moving. You don't know which way is down, or left, or backwards. Sometimes, our view of the world can change when we look at not the things we know, but the things we don't know.
When you only think about the things you know, you start to feel like you are the center of the universe. But when you look at the things you don't know, you realize that the world is much bigger, and you are much smaller, than you once believed.
But, don't be disappointed. Those thoughts can also remind you not to worry about small failures that really don't matter anymore. You still have a purpose in life, don't you? And every second counts towards fulfilling it. Now it's your turn.
If you're worrying about failing or not being important, let this song remind you to take a look at the moon tonight. Then, try counting some stars. Five? Ten? Maybe three billion more that you can't see?
When you're done counting all those stars, go and fill your teacup with music!
~Liya
While I probably should have posted this song on the week of the Moon Landing's anniversary, I can still inform you how far away the moon is from the Earth.
In your head, they probably look like this:
 |
| Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay |
You can probably see this more easily
You may have noticed something interesting. What appears to be right in this picture is actually up from the perspective of the Earth. If the moon rotated 180 degrees, it would also be above the Earth.
So then, is the moon really high after all, if up is any direction away from the Earth? What is 'up', and what is 'down'?
Answer: There's lots of things we don't know about the universe.
Here's another interesting brain twister about directions. Suppose you were driving a car at 60 kilometers an hour. According to the car, you yourself are not moving, but according to the road, you are moving.
Then, you stop the car. But have you really stopped? After all, the Earth is rotating, and it's moving around the Sun, which is moving around the Milky Way, which is moving around relative to other galaxies....
So, you don't really know how fast you are moving. You don't know which way is down, or left, or backwards. Sometimes, our view of the world can change when we look at not the things we know, but the things we don't know.
When you only think about the things you know, you start to feel like you are the center of the universe. But when you look at the things you don't know, you realize that the world is much bigger, and you are much smaller, than you once believed.
But, don't be disappointed. Those thoughts can also remind you not to worry about small failures that really don't matter anymore. You still have a purpose in life, don't you? And every second counts towards fulfilling it. Now it's your turn.
If you're worrying about failing or not being important, let this song remind you to take a look at the moon tonight. Then, try counting some stars. Five? Ten? Maybe three billion more that you can't see?
 |
| Image by Annalise Batista from Pixabay |
~Liya
Wednesday, 10 July 2019
Billie's Bounce
What? You don't know this song? If we were in the 1940s, this song would be so popular that even the birds would be singing it.
"WRONG."
Huh? What's wrong with the statement I just made? There were birds, um, "singing" this song in the 1940s.
"You're not talking about real birds. You're talking about Charlie Parker, a famous jazz saxophonist known for the rhythmic variety in his playing. Just because people called him "Bird" doesn't mean he really is a bird."
Of course you would say that, Blue Text. Thanks for shutting down my Billie's Bounce advertising campaign! Hopefully my visitor still wants to listen to the song here:
You could have actually used logical arguments, Liya.
If I were to grab my time machine - where is it? Oh, here it is.
 | |||
| Go anywhere in time - as long as you aren't in time. Image from pixabay.com |
If I were to transport myself back to 1945, I could hear Charlie Parker performing his composition for the first time, but I don't think it was especially popular, except in the small but avid jazz community which began playing it almost immediately.
You have to protect yourself from the danger of misleading information. It can persuade you to buy products you wouldn't choose otherwise, sign up for lower quality programs, or believe that an investment is worth buying into when it will actually waste thousands. It can even make you feel like you're bad at something you're actually good at.
Misleading information is everywhere now, but it takes a sharp eye, or ear, to find it. If there had been an advertisement on this page, some of it could be right in front of you. All it takes is observing the world more carefully, and you can discover new things that will make your life better.
While you're using those ears, don't forget to keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya
Wednesday, 19 June 2019
It Could Happen to You
When I first learned this song, I was wondering what it is that could happen to you. Anything, I decided. Was the song just supposed to be a warning to listeners so they would be careful? Even the lyrics tell you to hide your heart and not to count stars, because it could happen.
However, It could Happen to You is still a song that inspired jazz musicians years after its composition. You could find songs that use modified pieces of its melody, or even borrow some of the harmonic patterns. Or, the song could have just gotten musicians thinking about new things they could try.
After observing the lyrics of most jazz songs, however, I decided that it probably has something to do with this: 💘 It seems to be a pattern in many songs of this era we live in, probably because it's a part of many young musicians' lives. I usually prefer to just play the songs on the piano.
But, if you're not drowning in 💙💚💛💜s right now, you could think of something else that could happen to you. There are many examples of when life turns a corner.
I think of this song not as one of anxiety, but rather as saying, "We don't know what the future holds, but let's hope it holds something good for everyone." Sometimes when things change, you just have to say "it could happen to you" and not worry about it.
Have a great start to your summer, and keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya
 |
| What could happen to you? A pile of questions stand in the way. | Image from pixabay.com |
However, It could Happen to You is still a song that inspired jazz musicians years after its composition. You could find songs that use modified pieces of its melody, or even borrow some of the harmonic patterns. Or, the song could have just gotten musicians thinking about new things they could try.
After observing the lyrics of most jazz songs, however, I decided that it probably has something to do with this: 💘 It seems to be a pattern in many songs of this era we live in, probably because it's a part of many young musicians' lives. I usually prefer to just play the songs on the piano.
But, if you're not drowning in 💙💚💛💜s right now, you could think of something else that could happen to you. There are many examples of when life turns a corner.
| ||||
| Maybe all these cards have a way written on the back in which life could change. That's a lot of examples! | Image from pixabay.com |
I think of this song not as one of anxiety, but rather as saying, "We don't know what the future holds, but let's hope it holds something good for everyone." Sometimes when things change, you just have to say "it could happen to you" and not worry about it.
Have a great start to your summer, and keep filling your teacup with music!
~Liya
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